Together Trust Archive

Christmas day is over for another year. What will you be doing today? Travelling to see relatives? Off to the football? Continuing to force down chocolates and left overs from yesterday? For the Manchester Refuge boys' Boxing Day at the Strangeways Refuge was a time of giving. In the evening the boys would throw a party for children even worst off then themselves... Manchester boys on the street  

The great event of the year at the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges was Christmas with its good cheer and the arrival of Santa Claus. So as it’s only two days until Christmas I thought it was a good excuse to see how the charity used to celebrate the ‘big day!’ Taken from the Children’s Haven 1886

Last Sunday saw a familiar sight at the Together Trust Central Offices in Cheadle. Roaring down the road on motorbikes came around a hundred Santa’s, elves and Christmas fairies, members of the Roughley's Bikers , arriving to distribute presents to the charity. The Roughley’s Bikers’ present drop has been an annual occurrence for the last ten years, and has become a well-loved tradition for the children and young people at the Together Trust.  Roughley's Bikers dropping off presents at the Together Trust, 2011

"Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests but many a little child received there has had no mother’s arms outstretched to receive him, no place to lay his head." This was observed by William Edmondson, Secretary to the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes, in 1921, when speaking of the charity’s Children Shelter on Chatham Street. The home was opened in 1883 to give shelter to children sleeping on the streets of Manchester. Up until 1920 it received 15,000 children through its doors, taking them out of the cold and into safety.  Children’s Shelter ‘Mother’ receiving a child from a policeman

Last Saturday was a special day for the Together Trust as the charity welcomed some old friends back to its central offices. Past service users of the Together Trust’s residential homes returned to Cheadle to reminisce, see old friends and look around the buildings which they used to live in. We hope it was enjoyed by all who attended. We certainly loved hearing their stories! Playing table tennis in the Belmont grounds